We’re all traveling through time
together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this
remarkable ride. –last line from the movie About
Time
Prayer is waking up to the presence of God no
matter where I am or what I am doing. -Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the
World
Let the one who
walks in the dark who has no light,
trust in the name of the Lord & rely on
their God.” Is. 50:10
We want clarity; God wants us to come closer.
Come closer to God who’s got it:
Lean on His Love, Rely on His
strength.
Sometimes
we want greater clarity
when what we need is deeper
trust.
Life is always clearer when you
press closer to Him
& see your life through the
sheer love of God.
-Ann Voskamp
I am my response to
my child’s mismatched outfit
and the crumpled report card at the bottom of her
backpack.
I am my response to
my spouse who returned from the store without toilet paper
but remembered the
tailgate snacks.
I am my response to
my anxious parent who repeats the same worries
and insists on giving me coupons
I do not need.
I am my response to
my co-worker with sad eyes and frequent absences.
I am my response to
my 15-minutes-late hairdresser with a sick child.
I am my response to
my neighbor with heart-heavy problems and little family support.
I am my response to
the irate driver who cut me off and
made an obscene gesture in front of my
children.
I am my response to
the waitress who got my order wrong.
I am my response to
myself when I forgot the one thing I most needed to do today.
I am my response to
spilled coffee, rain-soaked shoes, and middle-of-the-night throw ups......
My responses are
not perfect … they are not always ideal … I am human after all.
But if I strive to
offer responses underlined with
grace,
understanding,
kindness,
empathy,
and care,
That is something.
That is something.
Because my
responses are more than just words.
They represent
who I am,
who I want to be,
and how I will someday be remembered.
Today I will not
respond perfectly. I know.
But if strive to communicate with hints of kindness and traces of love,
That will be something
That will be something
That could mean more than words.
- Rachel Macy Stafford,
Only Love Today
Jewels
When we record our days
we make them real to us.
We give them shape and form
that we might learn from them.
Hindsight is God’s beautifier
when we shine the lens we look through.
When we record our thanks
in pen, or thought, or praise
we establish what is good,
upon the pathways of our lives.
We inlay them with jewels
of many colors......
of many colors......
We cement the things that further us,
and cast aside what doesn’t.
When we travel back,
we trace God’s faithfulness.
In such a way,
that as we cast our line into the open waters,
we use yesterday’s harvest
to gain tomorrow’s goodness.....
that as we cast our line into the open waters,
we use yesterday’s harvest
to gain tomorrow’s goodness.....
Yes, when we record our days
we make them real to us.
We sift for all the wheat amongst the chaff,
mine for all the gold to further invest it.
Gratitude brings it reward,
if only to shine a light on what we couldn’t see before......
We think on what is good
and see it magnified.
We trust tomorrow
because of what we’ve made today,
out of all the good we polish,
and then display.
-Ana Lisa de Jong
I’ve had enough
of my hard edges.
I’m tired of straining my voice.
I’d like to loosen up and laugh a little more,
be a positive rather than a negative.
I’d like to
feel the upward curve of my lips.
I’d like to surrender control of things over which I have no control.
I’d like to let things unfold in their own time, in their own way.
I’d like to participate joyfully in this fleeting life.
I’d like to be
softer
toward him,
toward her,
toward me.
Thus, this will be
the year of my softening......
And this is my
vow:
I vow to listen
to opinions—I don’t always have to be right.
I don’t always have to agree or have the last word.
I vow to hand
over the hairbrush, the pile of laundry, the school project, the task before
us.
“How would you do it?” I will ask.
I vow to step
aside and respect a new approach.
Success might be difficult to see at first; I vow to keep looking.
I vow to be
more accepting of quirks and mannerisms.
I vow to be
more accepting of tastes and styles unlike my own.
I vow to
remember he is in the process of becoming; she is in the process of finding her
way.
And they are more apt to do it if I stop telling them how.
I vow to regard
“weaknesses” as hidden strengths. Inner gifts can be nurtured when I stop
plotting ways to alter, change, and “improve.”
I vow to greet
my family and myself with a loving smile, no matter what happened yesterday.
Grudge-holding only hurts us all.
I vow to pause
before correcting. I shall take a moment to consider if the mistake even needs
to be mentioned at all.
I vow to stop
nitpicking until it bleeds.
I vow to demand
less and inquire more.
I vow to
listen
to consider
and to pause before responding.
I vow to be a
voice of encouragement in a demeaning world.
I vow to be a
silver lining spotter in my family’s little world.
I vow to be
softer today than I was yesterday—a softer voice, a softer posture, a softer
touch, a softer thought, a softer timetable.
I vow to be
softer toward the imperfect human being inside me and beside me.
By being softer, I
can hear more, learn more, feel more, and love more......
At last I will
fully see.
I will see the
colors of my loved one’s soul
And my own
perhaps for the very first time.
The colors
might take my breath away
bring me to tears
or offer long-awaited peace.
I shall soften
so the human being within me and beside me can shine.
--Rachel Macy
Stafford, Only Love Today
